Creative Going Away Present

As I keep getting older an older there seems to be more and more transitions all around me.  I'm sure they were there as I was growing up the major ones being first steps, starting school, graduation, going to college, etc.  BUT around that time by nature we are so egocentric that we are just concerned with our own experience of these transitions and have little awareness that WOW other people are going through this too.  Also these are expected transitions that we get to prepare for over the course of our lives.  After that I feel like we just jump the track and everything is unexpected and unknown.  Well one of these "life transitions" was happening to a great friend of mine.  There was a "what the hell am I doing with my life" moment that caused her to announce she was up and moving back to the motherland of the Iron Range.  This is an area of northern Minnesota that is known for iron mining.  There are rumors that Iron Rangers eat Iron pellets for breakfast....but that is all hearsay.  I should know I'm a "Ranger", but I digress.  I felt compelled (now that I am out of the egocentric phase of adolescence) to celebrate the occasion with a lovely parting gift.  Enter the Swedish Fish.

Well, Swedish Fish struck me as the perfect gift for many reasons.  Number one, I knew she was moving into a temporary place where she was not going to unpack for months and was possibly going to re-move soon after. I didn't want to give something cumbersome that she would have to pack away or add to a box.  These babies you could eat on the way to the motherland and the sugar rush would likely boost her spirits.  Also the symbol of the fish was important (more on this intriguing bit below).  If there was someone in your life that wasn't in the middle of a huge move you could do a fish shaped bowl, fish Christmas ornament, a fish coffee cup, or a fish art print.  The bowl was automatically out for me.  This particular friend banned me from gifting her bowls after I had gifted so many.  My bowl quota was met. 

So now to the sentimental bit.  The whole reason the fish is important is the notion that there are "plenty of fish in the sea".  This could be "boyfriend fish", "job fish", "house fish" etc.  The message is that there will be other "fish" that will come along in her life and even though she is in the middle of all this turmoil a new "fish" will eventually swim into her life.  I also added that her friends and family would always be there for support as all the "fish" came and went out of her life.  At the end I congratulated her on her new adventure and all the "fish" that were to come!

I wrapped it simply with some brown paper and secured it with some twine.  The good thing about the sentimental metaphor is that you can take it to any level you want with the fish  symbols but the message is something your friend will think about forever.